In the final minute of the Warriors' 113-112 victory Sunday at Portland, head coach Mark Jackson beamed with pride as his squad twice recognized the proper offensive mismatch and moved the ball efficiently to get it to the right man.

Without the coach's prompting, the Warriors twice went to Klay Thompson, who rewarded the decisions by knocking down wide-open three-pointers to break a 107-107 tie and then to secure the win.

"We're learning. We're learning. It's part of the process. We're getting a better understanding of (recognizing mismatches), but we're not going to be the Spurs overnight," Jackson said. "That's something that you work on and something that you study to understand and get a feel for. You go through a period of making mistakes and learn to look for something else. There are a lot of times that I call it out and recognize it, but we're doing a better job of recognizing it ourselves."

Jackson is hopeful that his team will eventually develop into an efficient offensive machine similar to that of its next opponent, which has won its fair share of championships over the past 17 years.

Spurs coach Gregg Popovich, who will bring an offense that ranks first in assists and three-point shooting and second in field-goal percentage into Oracle Arena on Saturday, recently provided his insights during an intriguing question-and-answer session with the San Antonio Express News.

"A lot depends on the competitiveness and the character of the player," Popovich said. "Often times, I'll appeal to that. Like, I can't make every decision for you. I don't have 14 timeouts. You guys got to get together and talk. You guys might see a mismatch that I don't see. You guys need to communicate constantly - talk, talk, talk to each other about what's going on on the court."

That's similar to Jackson's ideal.

He said he can count on one hand how many times his coach called a play during his 17 seasons as an NBA point guard, and he thinks his lead guard Stephen Curry is headed in that direction.

"I'm not over there calling every play. I don't believe in calling a play every time," Jackson said. "That's the reason why we practice, why we prepare, why I'm in constant dialogue with my point guards. It's their show."

The Warriors rank eighth in field-goal percentage, 10th in assists and 11th in points per game, but they've moved even closer to the league's elite during a 13-4 post-All-Star break run. During the stretch, they're averaging 104 points per game on 46.1 percent shooting and 24.2 assists to 13 turnovers.

In his fifth season and with the most decision- making opportunities he's had in his career, Curry said he's recognizing mismatches more quickly and is trying to challenge his teammates to consistently move the ball when things start to get stagnant.

"We're just trying to be free out there," Curry said. "The coaches challenge us in practice to be smart basketball players. If you see a mismatch, you don't need to rely on Coach to call a play for it just to make the right play. That allows the game to be more fluid."

Those types of things develop after years of practicing together and can't often be established in the middle of games, Popovich said.

"Sometimes in timeouts I'll say, 'I've got nothing for you,' " he said. " 'What do you want me to do? We just turned it over six times. Everybody's holding the ball. What else do you want me to do here? Figure it out.' "

"And, I'll get up and walk away, because it's true. There's nothing else I can do for them. I can give them some bull-, and act like I'm a coach or something, but it's on them."

Saturday's game

Who: Spurs (52-16) at Warriors (44-26)

Where: Oracle Arena

When: 7:30 p.m.

TV/Radio: NBATV/CSNBA/680

Of note: The Warriors have lost 50 of their past 58 regular season games against San Antonio. ... Warriors backup big man Jermaine O'Neal (wrist) is expected to return after missing the past two games, but starting swingman Andre Iguodala (knee tendinitis) will miss his third straight game. ... San Antonio, the Western Conference's top team, has a 12-game winning streak. ... The Spurs have won at least 50 games in an NBA-record 15 consecutive seasons and have posted a winning road record in a league-best 17 straight seasons. ... San Antonio is 11-4 in the second game of back-to-back sets. ... Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker all skipped the Spurs' 104-102 victory over the Warriors on Dec. 19.